Entrepreneur weirdness: Positive and negative effects of non-normativity on product creativity and investor funding decisions

Many iconic entrepreneurs have been celebrated for being unapologetically weird. The current dissertation aims to enhance the understanding of weirdness by conducting two studies. First, using pitches collected from the TV show Shark Tank, Study 1 seeks to unpack the link between entrepreneur weirdness and investor interest (i.e., number of bidders) in the context of securing investor funding. Integrating Wood and colleagues’ (2007) theory of non-normativity with Amabile’s (1983, 1996) componential theory of creativity, Study 1 proposes that weirdness, as a form of non-normativity, yields both positive and negative outcomes for entrepreneurs through two distinct pathways. Specifically, the weirdness advantage operates through entrepreneur creativity, whereas the weirdness liability operates through lower entrepreneur competence. Our empirical analyses of non-normativity suggest that entrepreneur weirdness indeed is a double-edged sword. Further, we propose that entrepreneur warmth (being friendly and good natured) moderates both weirdness effects, by strengthening the positive effect on entrepreneur creativity and dampening the negative effect on entrepreneur competence. Second, Study 2 seeks to enhance the content validity of weirdness by implementing a behavior checklist method (to develop the Behavioral Indicators of Non-Normativity; BINN). In summary, this dissertation contributes to the theory of entrepreneurship by introducing a novel construct of weirdness, and it also broadens our understanding of non-normativity within the field of personality psychology.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Kim, Jun-Yeob

Contributors dc:contributor

• Newman, Daniel A
• Grijalva, Emily
• Briley, Ava
• Zhang, Bo
• Alexander III, Leo

• Entrepreneurship
• Weirdness
• Creativity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Jun-Yeob Kim

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124650

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124650